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This week’s poll was inspired by both Sal’s post on perfect polish and what forum member Alaskagirl refers to as RATE, an abbreviation for “rough around the edges”.

Years ago, style was synonymous with a perfectly polished appearance. This meant things like pristine and wrinkle free clothes, immaculate hair and make-up, manicured hands and feet, wearing perfectly tailored garments in quality fabrications, and un-scuffed accessories and footwear. Polished looks are also generally quite simple and sophisticated.

However, many a style icon is hip and cool while sporting a less than polished appearance. Kate Moss springs to mind. Her hair is often messy, her clothing somewhat wrinkled and sloppy, and her appearance far from pristine, un-scuffed and tailored.

Many of us probably feel that we have both a polished and RATE aspect to our style. So we’ll place the descriptors on opposite sides of a continuum, and you can slide along it as you feel fit. If you slide further across to the Polished side of the continuum, you’re on Team Polished, and vice versa for Team RATE.

I may not have regular manicures and pedicures, but my overall appearance is uncreased, uncluttered and tidy. I wear voluminous clothing, scuffed Dr. Marten boots and scrunched sleeves, but the rest of me is neat as a pin. I like to wear pristine garments made of beautiful fabrications, and I keep my hair in place. My make-up is minimal, but it’s there and adds to my look. And I really look after my skin. I am a total neat freak so a polished appearance comes more naturally to me than a look that’s RATE. I bat for Team Polished.

Over to you. Are you on Team Polished or Team RATE? Tell us why, and no batting for both Teams.

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I would say I am on team polished. I like my clothes to look right when I put them on and iron jeans even if they come right out of the dryer and have been known to iron deliberately crinkly tops to reduce the wrinkle factor. I’m not saying that everything I wear is perfect – I do have a few distressed or vintage pieces, but they are not the norm for me and often don’t get worn as much as other pieces. I doubt I would ever purchase jeans that were frayed or ripped and the grunge look made little sense to me.

RATE, trying to slide towards the middle of the spectrum. I am coming from the ‘mom who doesn’t seem to care how she looks’ (undeliberately unpolished) to ‘mom in her forties who at least gives it a try’. Now owning a full length mirror again after 12 years of doing without contributes to this. The goal is to end up in the category ‘she looks great’! and on some days I feel I achieve that goal.

RATE. I’m naturally a very casual person and I love more rock’n'roll styles . . . I’m in the process of trying to figure out how to combine my love of dress pants and blazers with my love of more punk-inspired clothing.

Team Polished. I struggle with it ( i am in grad school and working full-time ) but a manicure, nice hair , some accessories and clean polished shoes, go a long way making me look i’m in control. That and blush. I also helps as a worker in IT i type a lot, so when I look at my hands (which happens when I’m bored or thinking) I like to see something nice, a pop of color. Aaaand I am good at ironing. I do it while watching What Not to Wear ( I consider Ironing a sport, so the days i iron, I skip my exercise routine). I slip on team RATE in the exams period ( in February and May) when I deliberately wear a more punk/rock look to make it look intentional. Still my inner me, is team polished

Well, by the rules of this exercise, I’d probably have to go with RATE. Even though my style is pretty simple, I’m one of those people who can not keep perfectly styled hair, can not keep makeup on face all through the day, does not get mani-pedis, and prefers freeflowing comfort to belted and tucked detail. If I wear something structured, like a suit and button down shirt, I get looking rumpled, whereas people I would think of as polished can put that stuff on and stay looking the same all day. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I fidget too much.

In reality I probably would not call my style either RATE or polished, because I don’t have a scruffy rocker look really.

I am somewhere in the middle but on the RATE side. My hair lives it’s own life, it is fine and a bit curly and usually ends up in a wispy ‘do that looks windblown even if it isn’t. I try to take great care of my nails but then I get distracted in the garden and do a bit of weeding without gloves. I have several hairy dogs and most outfits will sport some dog hair or discreet paw print. My goal is definately to make it into team polished. Not hard-core polished, just the other side of the dividing line.

It’s very difficult for me to take sides on this one. I feel most comfortable on Team RATE – I don’t wear make-up, ever, and my style is very casual. Having said that, I do strive for a simple, but polished look for work, although I can dress quite casually given my profession as a professor. Nevertheless, given that I often arrive to work with hair somewhat in shambles and my clothes a bit rumpled after my bike ride in, and that it doesn’t really bother me too much, I guess I should be honest and place myself on Team RATE.

Another member for Team Polished! I’m way too much of a control freak and perfectionist to be anything but that. My hair is always just so, you’ll never see me without at least a touch of makeup, my clothes are always neat and clean and pressed, and I am very picky about my nails looking good (even though I find pedicures torturous!). At the same time, my style is fairly casual/boho — you can be Team Polished no matter what your style.

This is hard because I think we are all interpreting polish and RATE just a tad differently. I guess I would have to put myself on team polish as I think I look most stylish when things lean more toward the tidy side. I’m probably at a 7/8 on the RATE(1) to Polish (10) continuum. Too much “polish” would make me feel too prim, but too much RATE and I just don’t look or feel right.

I’m putting myself on team Polished with an artistic flare. I wear clothes that fit my body. I’m petite so I wear clothes are simple and form fitting but not tight. I love bootleg jeans, pencil skirts, belts, blazers and jackets. I wear heels a lot(: Color is and accessories are where my artistic fair comes in. I have high contrast between hair and skintone so I wear strong colors close to my face and I love strong patterns and prints. I absolutely never wear tennis shoes with jeans and prefer tucked or belted shirts over loose and flowy. I love unique accessories but only wear one strong piece at a time so that I don’t overwhelm my small frame. I almost never leave my house without makeup on (the gym is the exception) I have good hair so I keep it sleek and shiny most days.

I have 3 kids under 5, so things are very RATE these days. I used to be much more polished, but you just can’t engineer that kind of thing with so many little ones in the house. I like getting hugs and kisses when I come and go, and don’t want to be the mom always jerking back and saying “don’t touch”. I mostly work from home, so this isn’t a problem most of the time. and on days where I have to interview a client I’ll try to dress to a point, come in and hug and kiss everyone goodbye, and put the rest of my outfit/makeup/jewelry on after I walk out the door.

polished:
- dressier clothes
- shoes, boots and bags
- subtle make-up when I am going out
- usually need a jacket or cardigan as a topper
- wear scarves a lot to add a bit of detail
- very organized closet and drawers

I find it interesting that many of us with curly or wavy hair feel a bit RATE automatically. I wonder if those with naturally straight, shiny hair feel automatically a bit polished?? I am rough but polished around the edges hee hee – nails not painted but always even and filed (toes, too!). I make sure seams are straight and little things like shoelaces are all flat and and even. But I don’t iron often (try and not own things that need it!) and I don’t primp or redo my minimal makeup over the course of the day. I’d say I’m at 6 if 10 is picture perfect polished.

Mo- I am one of those with straight, shiny hair. Sometimes I do feel like it makes me look more polished than I like, and so I do things to look more rough on purpose. I try to keep my nails and skin polished, but I think that I am really Team RATE. It suits y lifestyle much better, and my hair will always be a little messy because it’s windy where I live.

I really don’t know which team I bat for. Weekends aren’t so much RATE, but flat-out rough, while weekdays are definitely polished.

I suppose I’ll guess that I’m team RATE, since my polish is externally imposed, and I prefer to leave my hair either loose and free-flowing — even when it’s up, I leave lots of wisps around my face.

Mo, there’s an answer for you from a straight-haired gal – my hair does make me feel RATE, because I also feel that there is no use trying to control it. It does what it wants, and resistance is futile.

I’m generally on Team Polished, but I do have a Team RATE side that comes out on weekends. I semi-recently switched careers from something fairly casual to something fairly professional (sometimes I have to, gasp, wear suits!), so the big problem is that I don’t feel like I have enough polished/”nice” clothes to wear them every day of the week (I have to save them for work). And I’ll confess I get a bit lazy about my hair on weekends…

I think really the distinction is between when I’m “on” and when I’m “off.” When I’m “on,” I’m ALWAYS Team Polished. But there are quite a lot of times I consider myself “off,” when I slide much more toward RATE. However, I do always have my toes and nails polished (never chipped fingers – it drives me nuts! – although I tolerate chipped toes better), and I always wear at least minimal makeup when I leave the house. I get my brows done once a month, get my hair cut every 6-8 weeks, and highlighted every 3-4 months. And I iron everything.

Someone brought up straight v. curly hair (mine is mostly straight) – I’m also somewhat overweight, and I think I err on the Polished side for fear of being considered that sloppy fat person.

Definitely Team RATE. My hair has a mind of it’s own and in the meantime I have given up trying to tame it in a more neat look and learned to live with the chaos on my head. I do absolutely nothing with my nails apart from keeping them clean and short. Sometimes I have clear nail polish on my fingernails, but that was it. I normally wear no make-up because of my problematic skin and on most days I only use lip balm. The most make-up I wear is mascara and a bit of color on the lips. It doesn’t bother me too much if some of my things are scuffed as long as they are clean and undamaged. My life is very casual and all the people dress very laid-back, so it doesn’t bother me that I don’t look very polished. Maybe that will change once I begin to work, but now as a student I’m happy with Team RATE.

RATE, most definitely. I am always a little wrinkled, a little disheveled. I wear no or very minimal makeup and hairstyling. I like raw edges and things like lumpy pearls (and really do not like perfectly round smooth white pearls, in contrast). Being RATE definitely fits in well with my eclectic, non-minimalist style.

Mo, I have straight, thick, by many accounts nearly “perfect” hair but am definitely still RATE. I rarely style it at all and hate putting any products in it, and it is certainly very well behaved, but I have flyaways because I refuse to use product, a jagged, migrating part because I don’t blowdry and sleep on it wet, and visible roots because I don’t really like going to the hair salon very often. I think that because my hair is so well behaved, it is actually *more* RATE, since I can get away without doing anything ” polishing” to it, so it still looks good but not sleek and polished.

Team Polished — though (with all due respect to Angie’s kind words above) I do agree with Mo that it’s not easy to make very curly hair look polished. I’m not talking about lovely sleek waves, but the kind of serious curl that wants to fuzz up no matter what. It takes a lot of work, a lot of special treatment, and a lot of product to keep the curl but keep out the roughness/wildness/messiness of it.

There seem to be two interpretations of this poll – the type of dressing we go for (in which case I’d go for team polished) and how finished and maintained our look feels (I’m team RATE all the way for that).

I loved Sal’s post, which made me feel hugely comforted, and found it so helpful as she articulated how much care and attention to detail is needed to achieve and maintain the polished look. I found it very useful to have it set out like that – I don’t manage any of the things she mentioned just yet but I’ll certainly aspire to some of them in the future.

So I’m on Team RATE in the end even though I aspire to be polished. My house and garden are rather similar. And parenting and dog now I come to think of it. But DH would bat for Team Polished!

So, I interpret this as a choice…not one dictated by the natural state of my hair or the amount of time or money I have to spend. I thought of this as “how do you feel most comfortable”. I have hair that I can wear either curly or straight. I love a mani pedi but rarely afford them. I can wear whatever I want to work. To help frame the question I thought of two equivalent outfits; If I were really tired and didnt feel like being outside my comfort zone for the day, which one would I reach for? Distressed denim, scuffed boots, and a rumpled button down? Or a crisp, tailored button down, dark wash denim and ballet flats? That is a tough choice! Over time, I’ve become less polished, but I think I still I’m ultimately on team polished.

RATE, but it’s because I’m really sort of decision-challenged when it comes to all of the matching, shopping, etc. that must go on to be a Team Polish. I love the polished look, however, and would love to have this in my future.

What a great question! I think it depends on my schedule for the day. If I’m meeting a client it’s polished but not stiff. If I’m hauling crap out from under my crawlspace well there you go. But then again if I have to run to the store – I start hoping I don’t run into anyone if I’m wearing that disheveled aging woman in the middle of a gardening project look…
I think I’m in the middle – but as I’ve gotten older (52) I really prefer to be a bit more polished. I think I just feel better all around. OK so maybe 70% polished and 30% scruffy!

RATE thru and thru. i started on Team RATE as a filthy little tomboy with hair like Rae’s and Astrid’s – “resistance is futile”, indeed! i’m super hard on clothes -spilling things, plus maybe something electrical (i stop watches, etc.)?

over the years i’ve become much more able to ‘do polished’, and i always iron my clothing, wear makeup, neatly file my nails, etc. but i very much prefer the distressed, murkily colored, vintage/antique look in clothing. i’ll wash linens and silks to soften up the hand, and tea-dye/overdye any color that looks too clear and bright.

Gosh, I think sometimes, I bat for both! Mostly team polished, as being put together, neatness and clean-ness are very important to me. Usually more dressy, but I do love linen with some of that rumpled state, however, it’s clean and fresh. And as I’ve said before, somehow polished and quirky don’t seem to go together, for me they do, and how I love an asymmetric, quirky aspect to my look. However, people will tell you a favorite saying of mine is “this is what we’re calling beautiful today” when I step out of the door less than, shall we say, polished!

Team polished, just, and it’s taken some effort to get there. I no longer leave the house without the bare minimum of ‘polish’ now, light makeup, an attempt to do something with my hair (curly which sometimes doesn’t want to co-operate) and tidy clothes.

Would love to be on team Polished; now in my 40s, I feel as though more & more polish is required to not look like the neighbourhood bag lady! But, I’m RATE heart, body & soul. Cannot wear a dress without spilling on it. Cannot keep my hair looking neat. Cannot sport lipstick with having it smear within minutes. *sigh*

While I aspire to be on team polished, I am currently on team RATE. I am certain I shall some day find the hours to keep myself as organized and polished as I’d like, but for now, I’m batting for team RATE with an eye toward going free agent so I can negotiate for a trade to team polished.

I am confused…RATE does not mean ungroomed, right? To me RATE means deliberate fashion choices to scruff up an outfit. I’ve spent plenty of time in the new-mom zone and know what it means to be used as a human napkin. RATE seems to be a different category. I know plenty of women that bat for Team Polish and even their casual outfits are polished….I swear they iron their t-shirts and they always appear pefectly put together.

I definitely bat for Team RATE. I prefer my clothes to be unironed, my hair is never “styled” and I perfected the half-tuck years ago. Even when I dress more formally, I deliberately unpolish some aspect of my outfit….roll the sleeves, add in a quirky accessory.

Polished, for sure. I look like ‘mutton dressed up as lamb’ as Rate. I feel better polished too. Not that I don’t lounge on the weekend in my scruffs but I would never leave the house without makeup, hair done clothes coordinating, shoes etc..I iron everything, and as a kid my mother ironed my jeans (which she hated), underwear and sheets…I think the ironing is an european thing. My parents don’t even own jeans to this day, must be where I get it from,

Well, I do iron t-shirts when necessary, but I consider myself day-to-day team deliberate RATE. I love the details of distressing and rough edges. Only for special occasions like weddings do I switch sides and bat for team polish.

By nature and profession, RATE. I’ve always got something going a little askew, and engineers call the dolled-up “fuzzies.” (You can’t doll up and NOT be fuzzy, because you are forbidden from the fab floor by international standards.)

The only time I’ve been on Team Polish was visiting my grandfather’s, back when they dressed for dinner. That was LONG ago. Being polished was a full time occupation to boot.

I aspire to be part of Team Polished – and often “polished” is used as a descriptor for my style. However, I end up very ragged around the edges. I spill things on myself, I get hangnails, my face gets greasy, my glasses get smudged, my hair loses its shape, I fall and bang into things and get bruises and cut my knees/ankles while I’m shaving… halfway through the day, I’m a big haggard.

Plus, I fuss and fidget with things, which is why I don’t bother to wear nail polish on my fingers – I just end up chipping them halfway through the first day.

Well – I think I am a RATE woman at heart. I don’t know where my iron is – in fact, I am wondering if it even got moved into our new condo? Hmmm? I like the look of RATE – too much polish makes me nervous. But, on the other hand I always wear make-up and “do” my hair – but my hairstyle is a messy style (I like it that way.) I always wear nail and toe polish and I pay close attention to what I look like before I leave the house – but once I’ve left the house, I very seldom check a mirror again for the rest of the day. I often forget to reapply my lipstick. I like the look of scuffed boots, I like distressed jeans (to a certain degree) – I think that achieving a good looking RATE style is just as difficult as achieving a good looking Polished style. With Polish being a 1 on the continuum and RATE being a 10 – I would fall around a 6.

Team RATE and love it!
Personal life, RATE all the way. I wear my hair messy and hate when stuff looks brand new. Professional, that’s a bit trickier. I manage a dog daycare, but I clean up really well for corporate/networking events. And even being around dogs all the time, I still go for tidy. Rate doesn’t mean sloppy, you know?

Just another thought – I guess if I have to choose sides, I would probably be on Team Polished because I really have a hard time getting used to and appreciating “rough around the edges” looks – even though my “polished” outfits end up looking pretty rough or unkempt throughout the day. For example, I’m still not loving the half-tucked shirt look even though there are some women on the forum (Aida comes to mind) who wear this look fabulously. My first inclination is to want to make the “rough” look appear more polished and clean.

Team Polished. How I admire the athletic/hippie/nymph looks that RATE! But when I go RATE, I just look unkempt. Like certain minerals, I need to be polished to feel like I shine. Clean lines, polished shoes, manicured nails, lipstick, and mascara are my friends.

Although I count myself on team polish– even on very casual days — I am one who deliberately goes for an effortless chic look. Is having a style goal of effortless chic/cool the same as RATE? But going for this effortless look requires some effort as we all know and I think the effort is what makes me bat for team polish.

RATE. Definitely RATE. Although I wear almost exclusively dresses, they are very low maintenance (jersey or fluid fabrics that don’t wrinkle). I normally pair the dresses with shoes that are a little more on the “earthy” or “textured” side – wooden or faux wooden heels, distressed leathers, etc. I love combining/playing with delicate textures and rough textures. My hair is cut in choppy layers so that it looks wavy when left alone.

I guess one would describe my style as relaxed romantic. Lots of ruffles, lace combined with some rougher textured knits, denim and leather.

What a happy surprise to come back from three days of camping and fishing to discover I’ve coined a term on YLF!

Youl all know I’m Team RATE (can I be the queen?), sometimes intentionally and sometimes not… It’s a look that suits me well – just as a yard full of wildflowers is my kind of garden. But I do love and appreciate the polished look on others here, especially you, Angie!

I’m a perfectionist, so it’s Team Polish most of the time. I like to be put together and even if the hair do looks “messy” it took time to make it look just that way. Makeup can be understated to heavy, but it is used to compliment the overall appearance.

I feel I’m barely on Team Polished. Those who know me would probably put me there but I’ve a long way to go to be truely polished. My hair doesn’t stay the way I want it to all day. I apply a bit of makeup and then forget it. I’ve never had a mani or pedi or anything waxed. However, I iron everything and am trying to be careful about fit and condition of everything I wear.

I think I’m team polished with some RATE qualities.my nails are always done.I do my hair everyday even if I’m just taking my daughter to the park.I always iron my clothes and you will never see me without makeup.but then again I’m a SAHM so I’m usually in jeans or leans and wear a lot of knits.

I’ve thought more about this today and have realized that I am more RATE than I said in my previous comment. I LOVE the RATE look – and as I said before, I think that it takes just as much time and effort to pull it off as it does to pull off the Polished look. I really don’t like looking just absolutely perfectly polished – because its not my personality – nor my preference. I love and appreciate the women on here who can pull it off and do so almost everyday – but as for me, I prefer a jagged haircut and messy hairstyle, scuffed up boots, frayed denim, old/vintage/worn looking clothes mixed in with shiny, new clothes – and sometimes when I wear really dark nail polish, I purposely go a few days extra with a few chips in it because I like the look. I don’t think that RATE has anything to do with grooming or casual vs formal. To me its a style.

I’m RATE but always feel a bit guilty about it as if I should be polished. I need to learn to love my authinic self.
My hair does not look good no matter what I try. I just don’t ever look polished and it doesn’t mean that it’s intentional.

And as for hair, it’s less how you look than how you feel about it. I wore my natural curls when in school but started straightening it before my first job. It just feels more controlled to me and thus more polished.

I’m just not sure…I feel like I’m smack dab in the middle of the two, at least in my mind. I do like everything to be neatly pressed, and I’m quite detail-oriented about every component looking just so, but I also prefer it if at least one element is sort of rough, just to break up the polish. I guess I get uncomfortable when I feel too polished . So maybe I am benched and watching from the sidelines!

Team Polished for me! I long to be a little RATE but it’s not authentic for me. My nails are always manicured, hair blow waved, makeup etc…I’m a bit of a neat freak. And like a couple of the other forum members confesed, I’m also always overdressed! But I don’t mind as that’s who I am

How interesting. I honestly don’t know where in the continuum I fall. I think I strive for a polished look – though deliberately funky, which I *think* is different from RATE and doens’t necessarily make a look unpolished – but my hair and face are more RATE than I’d like – never really getting my hair into the place I want, and always thinking I should wear just a little bit of make-up to polish off the look…

I think I’m definitely Team Polished, give or take a semi-tuck and the fact that I’m likely to have a stain or a missing button or a loose thread on any give day. But like Kari, I defintely ASPIRE to Team Polished!

I am definitely Team Rate by nature but I continue to try to add a polished edge to my look. Though I’m sure most of us who spend any time on YLF must have at least a little bit of polish to us! I can relate to what Cynthia said, even when I try to look polished I feel like I either intentionally muss it up a bit or get a little rumpled along the way anyway. If I feel too polished it doesn’t feel natural. I think I probably aim for a 5-7 (toward the Polished end) most days. I’m getting there little by little. Confession: I DID wear cut-off shorts for the 4th of July–I’m older than 35– (still building my summer shorts wardrobe!) BUT with a fab top from Thakoon by Target!

RATE, for sure. My mom is high polish and I grew up that way, but when I do polished I tend to look uptight and matronly. My hair is straight likes to behave itself, my grooming is good, but crisp, tidy and classic clothes just look awful on me. I need to have a certain “thrown together” attitude (a little mismatched, a scarf, layers, textures, and colerrs) to look cool.

As a fellow Alaskan girl, I’m in complete agreement with alaskagirl. Team RATE all the way! I may not be the queen, but I don’t enjoy being perfectly polished. Though I do very well when it’s necessary. =p

I am generally polished with increasing RATE qualities. The polished part stems from a perfectionist streak that is toning down with middle age. The polished part can appear uptight on me due to my quiet personality. As I have become less controlling in every aspect of my appearance I am finding that my I am generally more comfortable and my personality is more open to those around me.

Mmm I have a hard time with this poll for the same reasons as I did when Una posted the original thread; the interpretations of what is Polished and what is RATE are quite different from person to person. Sloppiness/lack of effort do not directly translate into RATE, nor does a high amount of effort/attention to detail directly translate into Polish. I think the majority of us coming to YLF want to polish our “look”, so I assume that effort is being put in regardless of what side of the spectrum one falls.

I feel there are some above who posted that they think their style is more RATE when I would call them more Polished. The key for me is that of intent: if you desire a look that is polished, even if you are a little disheveled, you are further down the Polish line; if you desire a look that is deliberately undone/rough you are further down the RATE line.

To me, if someone’s only qualification for being RATE is that their clothes aren’t ironed but it’s because they don’t have time and not that they are deliberately NOT ironing so they get that look, I don’t consider that RATE; if the intent of one’s look is that of polish, even if the look isn’t pristine (a little wrinkly, hair a bit frizzy, etc.) it is still Polished, just not at the extreme end of the spectrum. Many in the Polish camp will add an element of roughness so the look doesn’t come across as severe, the “polished but not too polished” thing; depending on how many of these elements you have you’ll slide further one direction or the other.

As for me, I place myself in the center; I feel my outfits as a collection are half Polished and half RATE, with certain types of items trending one way or the other (perhaps a slight preference for RATE). I also keep well groomed (nails, hair, skin, etc.) but deliberately “style” these things very naturally (so they seem unstyled). So, Angie, unless you feel I’m strongly on one Team, I’m going to have to sit this one out

Even though i posted a total RATE WIW today i’d say i’m normally on Team Polished. It’s the way i was raised and the look i usually go for. But when summer comes around and it’s crazy hot and sticky humid i slide more towards RATE.

I am not polished as in made-up or intricately styled hair, and have never boon. However, I like long, clean,simple shapes which work well with my height, and mainly wear my hair pulled back, which is more simple lines. By inclination I would say RATE, but these days I think my looks would be considered very clean-cut. In the perfect middle then?

What about NATURAL? Must it be either polished or RATE? A lot of french girls we saw when we were in Paris were polished BUT natural i.e messy/natural hair, effortless style-not too groomed, clothes on the worn-looking side, not a lot of makeup…not everything in place and perfect, which I feel is a more American tedency.

Just NATURAL. I feel that it’s possible a lot of people confuse RATE and a NATURAL style…

I used to strive for polished when I was in my twenties but over the years I find that I really have to join team RATE. I wear clothing that is pretty simple for work and play, trousers or cords and knit tops like turtlenecks and v-necks with booties or boots. My jewelry is mostly just earrings, wedding ring, and nice watch although I have started making my own pendant necklaces recently. I don’t really have the hang of accessorizing but am trying to wear more scarfs. I have never had a mani-pedi and avoid ironing like the plague. I guess I am more of a big picture person both in my thinking and in my dressing. It’s hard to do details.